« 004 ⇢ INTERLUDE004.EXE »

[reparator]

Who: These suckers and E R R O R
When: OOC: 5/29, IC: 7/15
Where: CERES Research Tower and Beyond
What: It seems an old friend has decided the situation is progressing too slowly.
Rating/Warning: PG-13: Violence, injuries and inevitable deaths.

---

▶ ACTION.EXE | IC: 7/15

For those unlucky saps who disappear today, ranging from early in the morning towards the middle of the afternoon, well...they can't be reached by CereVice.

Any attempt to do so will bounce back the message User Currently Occupied.

It's an odd message, and one that's never been used by the CereVice. How strange. It's probably nothing though, right? No contact can be established between groups or from groups to outside people in Cerealia, whether by technology or magic. You're cut off from everyone but those in your groups, now.

Otherwise, all abilities will remain intact.

As for the people who do disappear, well... things get a little hairy really quickly.

---

▶ RUN.EXE | MOD NOTES

This is the event log for these sign-ups! Your groups have been sorted below; here are a few handy links for you:

Group 01 | OOC plotting
Group 02 | OOC plotting
Group 03 | OOC plotting
Group 04 | OOC plotting
Group 05 | OOC plotting
Group 06 | OOC plotting
Group 07 | OOC plotting
Group 08 | OOC plotting
Group 09 | OOC plotting
Group 10 | OOC plotting
Group 11 | OOC plotting
Group 12 | OOC plotting
Group 13 | OOC plotting
Group 14 | OOC plotting
There is no tagging order, so feel free to tag in whatever way works best for you as a group.

The characters should not ICly be gone longer than 5 hours -- if they survive, of course. There will be mod involvement in each of the threads.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask them here. Please try to avoid asking hypothetical questions (such as "What will happen if my character does [action]?") as that's part of the fun and risk of the interlude! You are welcome to plot with your groupmates in this post. Thank you!

Comments

[earthpulse]

[ Poor Naki, stuck on cocoon/burrito rolling duty. ...Well then. At least there's light. Well-maintained lights, which means that it's in use, or has been used fairly often. Interesting. What use would Occidi (or anyone) have for this pathway? Where do these paths go? ]

...We could split, or we could all pick one and go forward as a full group.

[ She would...rather stick together as a group and go forward, since it meant more defense. However, doing that would mean potentially missing out on the other path. Keeping this in mind, she decides to hold her vote for now. ]

[cannonades]

[ Naki takes care of the cocoon'd girl, which is just fine by him. Though, he will keep an eye on that situation just in case he needs some kind of relief from rolling this person along. What an awkward situation. He doesn't waste much time heading into the pathway, considering Otome's words and the quickly frigid temperatures.

The fork in the path presents another issue. ]

We don't know what we're up against. It's best to stick together.

[ Scattering their few numbers likely won't work well for them. Especially since one is already unconscious. ] We're down one person already, in any case.

[forceofnature]

[As the temperature begins to plummet, Viridi shivers to herself and draws her leaf blankets tighter around her body. Though she tries valiantly to ignore the combination of factors making her nap impossible, it isn't long until the vertigo and the freezing cold begins to get to her.

As they stand there discussing, the angry burrito pops to its feet and hops up and down in place in annoyance.]

Ugghhh!

[Viridi scowls at the world in general.]

This is so dumb.

If we have to do this stupid side-quest, let's just get it over with! The longer I stay here, the more I regret ever helping to create sentient life.

I pick the left path. Let's march!

[The party is treated to a few moments by the tiny leaf burrito hopping down the path in question before Viridi remembers she can fly.]

Why is it so cold?!

[mombastic]

Motivation, maybe. I'm sure if we keep up the pace, we'll be fine.

[ And so much for putting which path to a vote-- Viridi's already moving ahead, so Otome's following her. Yeah, no matter the path... splitting up when she doesn't know who can fight and how well doesn't seem to be a sound idea. ]

[yaayaa]

[Well, that was fast. The girl in the leaf cocoon doesn't seem like a particularly reliable leader...if that's where they're going though, he'll follow.

The fox on his shoulder cranes its neck out to try to see farther ahead, though of course that doesn't work very well.]

I wonder what it is we're meant to find, here? If anything.

▶ CHECKPOINT ONE.SAV

[reparator]

. . . NEW FILE CREATED . . . CHECKPOINT #001.SAV . . .
. . . CONTINUING ESCAPE.EXE. . .

---

[ To the left it is. This path at least grows warmer; it's brightly lit, and clearly well-used. There's no dust at all, and the path has been cleaned and maintained.

Which means that after a short walk, they'll come to a small, but equally well-maintained building. It's one room when they go inside -- just a meeting room, but very high tech and technological, almost as if flaunting the technology.

It's empty, but it doesn't look like it has been for long.

That said, there are plenty of computers to mess with, and some electronic tablets on the flat surfaces as well. ]

[earthpulse]

...I'm not familiar with how to properly operate any of these pieces of technology.

[ She doesn't trust herself with this newfangled technology that they'd never even dreamed of back in Glenwood. It's strange though, that this would be beneath a shrine. A shrine, she thought, was at least a somewhat familiar sight. ]

What about everyone else?

[forceofnature]

Don't look at me. I'm from the era of antiquity. It's not like I play handheld games or edit Divinipedia when I'm bored or something. That would be silly. And totally contrary to my supposed origin story.

[With that bizarrely specific disclaimer, Viridi flits over to one of the computers and begins to tap at the keyboard fairly competently.]

What are we even looking for? Big red flashing files marked 'TOP SECRET'?

[mombastic]

If only it was that simple. [ She's no Fumi, but she does work for a top-secret government organization, Otome knows her way around a computer. So she'll just move to another one to try powering it on and checking to see what files it might have to offer. ] If they're trying for secrecy, it's probably going to be the least interesting-looking thing on here.

The tablets might be less complicated, though.

[cannonades]

If they're going for secrecy, it might be hidden or encrypted.

[ Or both. Though who knows; he's not sure whoever runs this lab had anticipated the possibility of someone else getting in. Trowa goes over to one of the computers as well, keys clacking as he tries to get it to do anything except sit on the home screen. He's done this a million times over back home, cracking through government and military security. Should be a piece of cake so long as he's careful.

As he waits for what looks like a command line input to load up, he reaches over to a nearby tablet, tapping the screen and swiping through to see if there's anything interesting. ]

[yaayaa]

[Nakigitsune isn't all that great with this stuff either...he'll leave it to the three who know what they're doing, instead looking around the rest of the room. Are there more doors? Hidden passages? Any non-computer objects, perhaps?]

[reparator]

[ The three of them will be able to access the same files -- there are files for Meeting Minutes, Contract and Additional Files.

Of course, trying to click any of them will open up a screen requesting a password.

As for Nakigitsune, there aren't any hidden exits, but there are definitely some obvious ones! There are another two doors from the one they came into, one on either side of the room, and they probably lead out of the room.

Otherwise, there are no paper objects in here -- everything appears to be almost overly technological. Even the chairs are massage chairs! ]

[earthpulse]

Three people, three things to investigate.

[ She might be technologically inept, but she knows when something is locked. They...probably don't know the password, but she'll leave the matter of that to Trowa, who seems to be the most experienced person here due to how he talked about the situation. She can't really do much in a room this high-tech, so she'll partner up (so to speak) with Naki for the time being.

Being spirits is suffering. She turns to address Naki. ]

...Huh. More exits, but leaving this room on our own would be just foolish.

[ Especially since they're way out of their element here. ]

[cannonades]

[ Technically, they can split up the research; that would be the ideal case. Though, they're going to have to get past the password no matter what. Trowa pulls the office chair out some more, dropping into it in an ungainly way. Perched on the edge of the seat, he just watches the cursor blink, trying to decide what to do from here. Guessing at the password too many times might lock him out completely.

Clicking 'cancel' on the input box, he pokes around on the computer some more, flipping through program files to see if there's any way he can bypass the regular user input and do things the old fashioned way. Something like DOS. ]

Are either of you any good with tablets?

[ He's addressing Naki and the disembodied voice, not quite looking away from his screen. ] Even if you're not tech savvy, it might be worth noting what kind of programs are on there. Or if there's any kind of messaging correspondence that could be useful.

[yaayaa]

[Naki nods at his fellow spirit's comment, curiously looking at the other doors, but turns his head slightly when Trowa poses his question.

Again, the fox answers for him.]

We aren't exactly "good" with them, but Nakigitsune can definitely try!

[Heading over to the tablets? Luckily touch screen controls are generally pretty user-friendly.]

[mombastic]

Thank you-- [ turning her head to offer Nakigitsune a smile. ]

If anyone can find anything that might have a list of numbers or letters, or a combination... [ She's going to take a look around the computers, although she doubts there'll be a handy-dandy list of passwords nearby. ]

[forceofnature]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[Viridi crosses her legs and cracks her knuckles.]

Well, while you're doing that...

Group brainstorm! Everyone think of good guesses for passwords! Remember - as they get funnier and more unlikely, the probability that they'll work basically asymptotes at 100. That's how it always works in sitcoms.

Here, I'll start.

[In about thirty seconds, Viridi has the following suggestions written down on a giant leaf.]

>admin
>administrator
>password
>password1
>password1111
>opensesame
>openmacadamia
>opentreenutofunknownorigin
>swordfish
>allhailgreatleaderceres
>allhailgreatgoddessviridi
>savefifteenpercentormoreonlifeinsurancewhenyouswitchtoceres
>icantbelieveitsnotceres
>cerescanseewhyyouthslovecinnamontoastcrunch
>4AB!QYD95JML94P
>letsmakeacontract:3
>ioccidientallyforgotthepassword

I like #11.

[reparator]

[ Trowa's not going to have a lot of luck with that; the password box will keep popping up persistently over and over every time he tries to access a file, no matter what he does.

As for the others, the tablets aren't password-locked, though they don't appear to have anything useful on them. They have a note-taking software on them, and most of them are blank.

Aside from one, which says Bridge.

Unfortunately, there is definitely not a handy-dandy list of passwords around the computers. ]

[earthpulse]

[ Tablets are user-friendly enough. Edna can deal with these, and she pokes and prods around, somewhat eager to actually be useful. Being useless is...

...well. This isn't the time for that. ]

No messaging correspondence. There's some sort of note-taking...application.

[ That's what they're called, right? ]

Mostly blank, except for a single word: Bridge.

[ ... ]

It's worth a try. Or at least worth more of a try than those.

[ She says, pointing to the password list conjured by Viridi. If the system hasn't locked them out for too many tries yet, then what's one more? If that isn't the password, then at least they know that this room and these files are related to her. ]

[forceofnature]

Hey! I didn't see anyone else come up with any suggestions.

[Viridi huffs as she adds 'Bridge' to the leaf with an emoji rolling its eyes next to it.]

That one's so boring. And why would they use the name of some loopy god for their password?

[Sighing again, she'll just type Bridge into the computer when it prompts her.]

[reparator]

[ That one's going to get an error message! The computer beeps, and then displays the cheerful:

Password must not be the same as contents! :) Please come up with a stronger password. ]

[forceofnature]

Ummmmmm?

[Viridi stares at her screen for a few moments before yanking the nearest person closer to look at the screen.]

Guys, I think we're overthinking this. It kind of looks like it's prompting us to make a password.

[a very, very, very brief pause before she types in allhailgreatgoddessviridi at the speed of light]

Any sugges -- Oops. Too late, my fingers slipped.

[mombastic]

... You should probably have put a number in there, then.

[ SINCE COMPUTERS CAN BE FUSSY. Also why did you just drag her, Viridi, goodness-- ]

[yaayaa]

A number?

[A mystery. Naki moves closer to the pair, curious as to what exactly she typed.]

[cannonades]

Make a password?

[ Trowa shoves away from his computer with his heels, chair rolling over to where the rest have grouped around. ]

Can you open things now? [ He'd heard Viridi typing, so she likely made a password already. ]